


Out With the Old, In With the New

by Whizzer_going_down_to_Florida



Category: The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez
Genre: 2 years post uganda, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, ArNaba, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Homophobia, Hurt/Comfort, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Mentions of conversion therapy, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, mcpricely - Freeform, mentions of ex-gay therapy, they are all living in New York now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:42:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24103843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Whizzer_going_down_to_Florida/pseuds/Whizzer_going_down_to_Florida
Summary: It’s been two years since their mission trip and Connor and Kevin are settling into their new life. Until an unexpected visitor disrupts their newly found comfort.
Relationships: Arnold Cunningham & Kevin Price, Arnold Cunningham/Nabulungi Hatimbi, Elder "Connor" McKinley/Kevin Price, elder “connor” mckinley & nabulungi hatimbi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	Out With the Old, In With the New

**Author's Note:**

> hey i’m not dead!
> 
> follow me on instagram @Owenfrankin_art

The heat of the sun shining in through his window and the warmth of his boyfriend’s arm around his torso gently woke Connor. He shifted so he was lying on his back instead of his side and he felt Kevin start to stir. 

“Hello,” Connor whispered hoarsely, his voice still waking up along with him to Kevin who was looking at him through half-lidded eyes. 

“Good morning.” He said in return and placed a hand on Connor’s bare hip, leaning up to kiss him tenderly. 

Mckinley hummed happily and ran his hand through Kevin’s messy bed head feeling that he was real and was actually there beside him. He didn’t think he’d ever get used to waking up in the arms of such a beautiful man but he relished in the simplicity and joy that he didn’t think he’d ever find. He still wasn’t sure he deserved it. Their legs became tangled in the sheets as they moved so Connor was almost on top of the taller man and was softly running his hand over his chest.

A loud knock at the door interrupted their comfort. Connor groaned and moved to get out of bed but Kevin caught his hand. “Ignore it,” He pulled him back against his body, “just stay with me for a few more minutes it’s probably just a solicitor.” Kevin whined. His words were convincing but so were his lips that were traveling down his freckled neck, which was highly effective at making Connor forget about what he was getting up to do in the first place. He started to climb back into bed and into his boyfriend’s needy arms, until the person at the door knocked again, but a little bit louder this time. 

Connor groaned and climbed out of bed. He threw on a pair of underwear and Kevin’s slightly oversized T-shirt that said “PRIDE” in rainbow letters. Kevin sat up too and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

Connor made his way down the short hallway of their apartment that was lined with framed pictures of he and kevin and their friends at Disney World and a few group photos from Uganda, and opened the door. He saw a woman, a few inches shorter than him with bright red hair and a flowy, but ankle-length skirt. His voice caught in his throat as he struggled to get any words out. “Connor!” the woman cried and pulled him into a rib-breaking hug. 

“Mom?” He said breathlessly he could feel his heart hammering gassing his chest. His arms were limp at his side as his mother held him in a vice grip. She pulled away to look at him and pursed her lips when she properly saw what he was wearing. Connor decided that explaining that it wasn’t his shirt would not help the situation. “I’ll be right back.” was all he could squeak out as he closed the door again, leaving her outside.

He rushed back into his bedroom. Kevin was in the bathroom brushing his teeth and poked his head out to see Connor frantically putting on jeans and a simple pale blue T-shirt that he thought would be non-offensive enough for his mother. “Hey, who was that?” 

“My mom,” he choked out and turned to Kevin who could now see the tears beginning to well up in his eyes. He wiped them away with his arm and headed back out before Kevin could get a word out. 

Thousands of questions raced through Connor’s mind as he hesitated with his hand on the doorknob. She hadn’t reached out to him at all since Uganda so why did she decide to show up now?

He reopened the door and the woman was still standing there and fiddling with the strap of her handbag. Her eyes lit up and she went to hug her son again but he backed up before she could touch him. “What are you doing here?” he said blankly, trying to keep his tone level as to keep from crying again. 

“We miss you Con,” she placed a manicured hand on her chest, “I just wanted to talk to you.” At that moment Kevin walked out and stood closely behind Connor, thankfully fully dressed. The woman’s eyes darted up to the man “Alone,” she looked like she had seen a ghost, “I don’t think your friend needs to be a part of this.” 

Connor nodded, looking behind to try and silently communicate “It’s okay” to Kevin and stepped through the door, closing it behind him. 

“What do you really want?” He dug his nails into his palms to try and calm himself down, a habit he had tried to break ever since he stopped trying to turn it off. He used the pain to distract himself and to clear his head, well that and lots of cold showers.

“I told you,” She looked up at him sadly and innocently, “I just wanted to see me son.”

“You guys made it very clear,  _ in a letter, _ that I was no longer your son.”

“You know your father.” She said this calmly, as if she thought him disowning her only son was just one of his silly quirks. “but we’ve been talking and we want you to come home.”

“What?” Connor stared at her in disbelief.

“We miss you,” She wiped away a tear that had slid down his cheek with her thumb just like she had done when he was a kid after waking up from a bad dream, it used to comfort him but now it just made him feel so small, “your sisters miss you.”

She hugged him again, softer this time and Connor was too in shock to stop her. “It’s going to be okay, baby. You’re going to go back to therapy and we’ll get you reinstated into the church and we can fix this. We-“

“No.” Connor pushed her away. 

“Darling what do you mean ‘no’?” she looked flabbergasted.

“I mean no. I’m an adult and you can’t make me.” 

“Honey, i’m here to help you.” the affectionate names and the heart broken look in his mother’s eyes tugged at his heart strings. She reached out for his hand but he yanked it away.

“I don’t need help.” Tears were streaming down his face. “I am happy, for the first time in my life I actually am and i’m not going back.” He reached for the door knob. “This morning I woke up with my boyfriend,” He ignored the pained look in his mom’s eyes, “in our great apartment and today i’m going out with him and my friends and I’m not going to let you stop me.” He opened the door. 

“Con, please-“

“I don’t know how you found me but you need to leave. And if my sisters want to talk to me then they can come and talk to me but you should go home.” and with that he went inside and slammed the door behind him. 

He stood frozen against the door.

“Connor?” Kevin said carefully and stood up from the couch.

Connor didn’t turn to look at him. He just rushed to his bedroom, leaving the door open but laying back down and facing the wall. He felt like every part of his body was on fire and he just wanted to melt into the cool sheets. He felt the mattress shift as his boyfriend climbed into bed next to him. He placed a comforting hand on the crying man’s shoulder and rubbed soothing circles with his thumb. His hand traveled down Connor’s arm and opened up his hand to stop him from clenching his fists. Sometimes his nails would break skin and he wanted to keep him from accidentally hurting himself. 

He let Connor silently cry, letting his tears soak into the pillow. He brushed a stray auburn hair out of his face and continued to massage his shoulder until he felt like he could catch his breath and explain what had happened.

Connor rolled over so his forehead was touching Kevin’s and he could look him in the eye. “What happened?”

He let out a sigh and opened his quivering lips to speak, “My mom,” he paused, “She wanted to take me home,” Kevin’s gaze changed from concerned to angry as Connor gripped his shoulder to steady his shaky hand. “and fix me.” Kevin pulled him even closer so his head rested in the crook of his neck and their bodies were pressed together. 

“You know you aren’t broken.” Kevin said into his ear. 

Connor nodded into his shoulder. “I sent her away. I told her to leave us alone.” Kevin didn’t know what to say but he knew he should just keep holding him close. So he did just that.

Then, Kevin’s phone started buzzing loudly, vibrating on the bedside table. He reached over to grab it and Connor sat up slowly, wiping the falling tears from his face that had begun to slow down. “Shit,” Kevin saw the time ‘11:30’ and the person who was calling, “we were supposed to meet Arnold and Nabulungi at the mall in 15 minutes.”

He answered the phone, “Hey, we aren’t going to make it today.” Connor heard Arnold’s distorted voice on the other end of the line. Kevin held the phone to his chest and turned to Connor, “would Arnold and Naba coming over make this better or worse?”

“Better.” He knew the company would help. He was done trying to handle his feelings alone. 

“Actually can you come to the apartment?” He reaches out for Connor’s hand, “I’ll explain when you get here. Connor just needs to see some friendly faces.” He paused to listen for the response, “Alright, thanks you guys. See you in a bit.” He hung up the phone and placed it back on the table. 

“Thank you.” Connor said and placed a hand on Kevin’s neck and pulled him in for a delicate kiss.” Kevin could still feel the cold tears on Connor’s cheek and his heart wrenched. Along with the heartbreak he felt when he saw his boyfriend cry, he was also pissed at the woman who had caused his tears. He wanted to scream at her or hit something, but instead he just deepened the kiss. Drinking in the feeling of Connor’s lips against his and tried to comfort him in anyway he knew how.

They broke the kiss but still stayed close. Their lips still lightly brushed against each other's and Kevin could still feel Connor’s shaky breath on his face. 

After a few minutes the doorbell rang but this time Connor knew he could trust the people behind the door. The couple got up to greet their friends. Naba, after a split second of accessing Connor’s disheveled state, brought him into a tight hug that he gladly reciprocated. Arnold, who was not quite as perceptive as his girlfriend, turned to Kevin. “What’s wrong?” Kevin opened his mouth to answer but Connor did it for him.

“My mom visited.” Was all he said over Nabulungi’s shoulder. Arnold knew enough to know exactly what that meant and Naba, who Connor had often confided in even back in Africa, held him even tighter. 

“What do you need?” She said, letting go of Connor. 

“I don’t know,” He replied, “A distraction.” Naba nodded, she knew that once he had calmed down he would properly talk with them but right now he just needed them to be there. 

“How about a movie?” Arnold chimed in. 

“Sound great!” Connor smiled a small smile.

The group got situated in the tiny living room. Connor and Kevin got snuggled up on the beat up old couch they had found at a garage sale and Connor rested his head on Kevin’s shoulder. Arnold and Naba sat on the floor in front of the couch. There was other furniture but nothing that could fit the both of them so they decided to sit together. 

They flipped through the seemingly endless scroll of movies on netflix and laughed at ridiculous movie descriptions. 

And Connor decided that even if his old family didn’t accept him, it was okay because he had found a new one.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> follow me on instagram @owenfranklin_art


End file.
